Printing All Of The News

Printing All Of The News

Not a week goes past that we do not get phone calls asking why we printed a particular news story, asking that we do not print a particular news story or threatening us if we do print a particular news story. It is a part of the business for all newspapers, but particularly for papers such as The Wave that are a part of the community as well as a chronicler of its times. There are those in any community, be it a religious community, a school community or a community in a specific geographic location, that believe that anything negative about the community that appears in a community newspaper is plain wrong. They are of the opinion that the local paper should be a cheerleader for the community, not a taleteller. A local priest is accused of child molestation. That is the church’s business, not the community’s. Officials of a local company are indicted for defrauding the public. It shames the community, so keep it quiet. The child of an upstanding member of the community is arrested. Don’t print it, the parents will be devastated. There is a fight in a local middle school. Don’t report it, because then parents won’t want to send their kids to that school. We do not agree with the people who say those kinds of things to us each week. We believe that the public has a right to know what is going on within its public institutions, within its community. There are times when we find it difficult to get the news because we are often treated by public agencies and private citizens like a mushroom. We are kept in the dark and we constantly have manure shoveled on us. When we do have the news, however, you will have it to. We believe in printing all of the news, regardless of who would rather see the information kept secret.